Berry tray



O. 0. EATON.

BERRY TRAY.

APPLlCATlON FILED DEC-19 I 192l- 1,409,335.. Patented Mar-14,1922.

meunaz FIGURE 2 Ifii FIGURE 4 v INVENTOR ATTORNEY FIGURE 3 BY BERRY TRAY.

Specification o'f Lett'ei's Patent.

T0 all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, ORRIN O. EATON a citizen of the United States, and resident of WVatsonville, in the county of Santa Cruz and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Berry Trays, of which the following is a specification.

In the marketing of berries it is customary to put them up in small boxes arranged in trays, and the trays in turn arranged in chests such as disclosed in my Patent No. 1,353,155, dated September 21, 1920. In distributing the berries from the chest in the type of trays now commonly used, it isa difficult matter to prevent the berrles in one tray from becoming crushed by the tray placed thereon since a slight movement of} the upper tray in either direction-longitudi-f-- nally, will cause one end thereof to slip down upon the berries in the lower tray. When several trays from a chest are to be delivered from a distributing point considerable time and labor are requiredto properly build up the several trays so as to prevent injur'yto the contents thereof., Al'so, when the berries are placed on sale it has heretoforebeen necessary to display them in the chest, ,a method highly objectionable because of the room occupied by the chest and the difiiculty of properly displaying the individual trays therein. l I r It is the obect of my inventiontherefore, to provide a orm of berry tray that will be free from the objections above set forth; that can be quickly and easily nested in any desired number for reshipment; that will at all times and under all conditions prevent one tray from slipping down upon the contents of the next lower tray; that will permit proper display of the berries inde pendently of the chest; and that will at the same time provide for the proper circulation of air around the contents of the tray.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation of two nested trays embodying myimprovements.

Figure 2 is an end view of the same.

Figure 3 is an enlarged section on 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail section of another embodiment of my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 1-2 indicates the two end pieces of a upper edge of theend low without permitting the bottom members 5 to engage said endpiece.

slipped into position on another.

tray, each end piece its outer and upper edge chamiered throughout a portion of its length as shown at 3 and 4 respectively, so that they face in opposite directions as shown.- At 555 are bottom members pieces 1 and 2 and spaced apart as shown. Two members 6-6 are secured to the end edges of end pieces 1 and 2 to form sides for the tray. 7

Arrangedtransversely across the bottom of the tray and at the two endsthereof are cleats 7 and 8, the said cleats being of the proper cross sectional size and conformation to engage the corresponding chamfer in the Patented Marl 1519221 nailed to the bottom edges of end piece of the tray be I miss ORRIN o.neromon\vATso VILL ,cArJrioRivrA.

Itis clear from the above disclosure that.

a tray can be quickly and strongly made and stacked in. perfect alignment by this method of assembly. Upon the delivery ofa chest to a retail point the trays Y f removed therefrom {and stacked up by themselves thereby making'a occupying less space than when ,theyfare retainedin the chestlyThis i" 5 method ofdisplay is rendered possible by several trays easily may be quickly better display and the engaging cleatand chamfer construe: tion which etl'ectually trays. By means of this construction twoor getherby end cleats as 9 and fitted with a top as 10 thereby forming a solid shipping package capable of being transported without danger of injury to the contents.

The particular method of attaching the bottom members and cleats to the end pieces is desirable because it permits ventilation through spaces 11, utilizes the full width of end pieces 1-2 for supportingbottom elements 5'55, and of cleats 7-8- with the grain of the wood running in the direction of the movement of the cleats in the 'chamfer as one tray is The formation of the chamfers on the bottom edges of end pieces 1-2 wouldnecessitate a carewould be difiicult and expensive to repair.

In Figure 4 another embodiment of my inelements 555, and

eliminates the liability y of damage to the berries by slipping of the i permits the attaching I claim A berry tray comprising end pieces having recesses formed therein and in their upper edges and extending from a point adjacent one end to a point adjacent the other end thereof, side and bottom slats arranged on said end pieces to space the same, and

means arranged at each end of and upon said 7 bottom slats to engage corresponding recesses-in a tray'placed therebelow.

' ORR-IN O. EATON. 

